Embodiments of the inventive concept are directed to a method of analyzing the lattice strain of a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a method of analyzing the lattice strain of a semiconductor device as captured by a microscope.
In atoms that form a semiconductor device, a lattice space may vary due to stress. Mobility of electrons passing through the semiconductor device and the power consumption of the semiconductor device may vary depending on a variation in the lattice spacing of the atoms. Accordingly, a study on analyzing stress, which is applied to a semiconductor device, is required to improve a driving speed of the semiconductor device and reduce the power consumption of the semiconductor device.
One method of analyzing strain uses a geometric phase analysis (GPA) strain analysis technique applied to a high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscope (HAADF-STEM) image. In existing commercial software, a cosine mask (or Tukey mask) is used as a mask filter that is applied to a spectrum image. As a size of the cosine mask increases, the spatial resolution of a strain image improves, although noise increases.